1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a container having a flexible panel to offset a pressure differential. For example, may be used with oxygen scavenging products that may produce a vacuum in the container over time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Products, such as mayonnaise and peanut butter, tend to scavenge oxygen over time. When sealed in a container, this creates a vacuum that may collapse the side walls of the container. That is, if the vacuum pressure is greater than the resistance of the sidewalls, the container walls collapse or buckle. As a result, the appearance of a paneled cylindrical container is not appealing to the consumer, which in turn, may result in a defective product. In the related art, to address this problem, additional material is added to the sidewalls of the container to strengthen the cylinder and offset vacuum pressure. For example, the container shown in FIG. 1 includes additional material as well as ribs to prevent or decrease the likelihood of collapsing. See FIG. 1. The added material is undesirable because in increases the weight of the container. The ribs tend to detract from the aesthetic design of the bottle while making it difficult to remove product from the container.